ABSTRACT
In Genetic Resources Centres (GRCs) documentation about accessions is standardised by means of descriptors, e.g. place of collection, morphological features, agricultural value. Botanical and/or fancy names are also considered to be descriptors.
However, there is one essential condition for the usefulness of names as descriptors, namely the check on whether names are correct. If not regulated by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, 1978 (ICBN, 1978), the nomenclature of cultivated plants is directed by the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants, 1980 (ICNCP, 1980).
For cultivars, including land races, however, ICNCP, 1980, does not contain rules concerning any typification. So, in these cases there is no well-defined connection between a plant material and its name. Particularly where it concerns the variation and the need for stability of cultivars of cross-pollinated plants, the lack of this connection is even more striking.
The rapidly increasing amount of accessions of cultivated plants in GRCs is one of the main reasons for focusing attention on this problem.
This paper proposes a general procedure for checking cultivar names, based on living and conserved standards, descriptions and memory. The possible incorporation of the proposed procedure into a list of descriptors is discussed.
